The document discusses the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory through quotes from the Catechism, Bible passages, and early Church fathers. It provides three key points: 1) Purgatory is believed to be an intermediate state where souls undergo purification after death and before entering heaven; 2) Prayers, Masses, and alms on behalf of the dead can aid souls in Purgatory and shorten their time of purification; 3) Many early Church fathers, like Augustine, affirmed the existence of Purgatory and post-death purification by fire based on Scripture and tradition.

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Purgatory
Magesterial Quotes
Catechism of the Catholic Church
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Supporting Bible Passages
2 Samuel Chapter 12
13: David said to Nathan, quot;I have sinned against the LORD.quot; And Nathan said to David, quot;The LORD also has put away your
sin; you shall not die. 14: Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child that is born to
you shall die.quot;Read More
2 Maccabees Chapter 12
42: and they turned to prayer, beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out. And the
noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had
happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. 43: He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two
thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and
honorably, taking account of the resurrection. 44: For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again,
it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. 45: But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is
laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead,
that they might be delivered from their sin.Read More
Matthew Chapter 5
18: For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is
accomplished. 19: Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called
least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20: For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven. 21: quot;You have heard that it was said to the men of old, `You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to
judgment.' 22: But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults
his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, `You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire. 23: So if you are
offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24: leave your gift there
before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25: Make friends quickly
with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to
the guard, and you be put in prison; 26: truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny. 27:
quot;You have heard that it was said, `You shall not commit adultery.' 28: But I say to you that every one who looks at a
woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29: If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out
and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30: And if
your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that
your whole body go into hell.Read More
Matthew Chapter 12
32: And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not
be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.Read More
Mark Chapter 9
49: For every one will be salted with fire.Read More
Luke Chapter 12
58: As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to
the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. 59: I tell you, you will never get
out till you have paid the very last copper.quot;Read More
1 Corinthians Chapter 3
15: If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.Read More
Ephesians Chapter 4
8: Therefore it is said, quot;When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.quot; 9: (In saying, quot;He
ascended,quot; what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10: He who descended is
he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)Read More
Colossians Chapter 1
24: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the
sake of his body, that is, the church,Read More
Hebrews Chapter 12
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14: Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.Read More
22: But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels
in festal gathering, 23: and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect,Read More
1 Peter Chapter 3
19: in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison,Read More
1 John Chapter 5
16: If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose
sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. 17: All wrongdoing is sin, but there
is sin which is not mortal.Read More
Revelation Chapter 7
13: Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, quot;Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?quot;
14: I said to him, quot;Sir, you know.quot; And he said to me, quot;These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they
have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.Read More
Revelation Chapter 21
27: But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written
in the Lamb's book of life.Read More
Early Church Fathers
Tertullian [160-240 AD] On Monogamy
quot;A woman, after the death of her husband . . . prays for his soul and asks that he may, while waiting, find rest; and that
he may share in the first resurrection. And each year, on the anniversary of his death, she offers the sacrificequot; (Monogamy
10:1–2 [A.D. 216]).Read More
Cyprian of Carthage [200-270 AD] Epistle 51
quot;The strength of the truly believing remains unshaken; and with those who fear and love God with their whole heart, their
integrity continues steady and strong. For to adulterers even a time of repentance is granted by us, and peace [i.e.,
reconciliation] is given. Yet virginity is not therefore deficient in the Church, nor does the glorious design of continence
languish through the sins of others. The Church, crowned with so many virgins, flourishes; and chastity and modesty
preserve the tenor of their glory. Nor is the vigor of continence broken down because repentance and pardon are facilitated
to the adulterer. It is one thing to stand for pardon, another thing to attain to glory; it is one thing, when cast into prison,
not to go out thence until one has paid the uttermost farthing; another thing at once to receive the wages of faith and
courage. It is one thing, tortured by long suffering for sins, to be cleansed and long purged by fire; another to have purged
all sins by suffering. It is one thing, in fine, to be in suspense till the sentence of God at the day of judgment; another to
be at once crowned by the Lordquot; (Letters 51[55]:20 [A.D. 253]).Read More
Gregory of Nyssa [325-386 AD] On the Soul and the Resurrection
quot;If a man distinguish in himself what is peculiarly human from that which is irrational, and if he be on the watch for a life of
greater urbanity for himself, in this present life he will purify himself of any evil contracted, overcoming the irrational by
reason. If he has inclined to the irrational pressure of the passions, using for the passions the cooperating hide of things
irrational, he may afterward in a quite different manner be very much interested in what is better, when, after his
departure out of the body, he gains knowledge of the difference between virtue and vice and finds that he is not able to
partake of divinity until he has been purged of the filthy contagion in his soul by the purifying firequot; (Sermon on the Dead
[A.D. 382]).Read More
Cyril of Jerusalem, St [315-386 AD] Catechetical Lecture 23
quot;Then we make mention also of those who have already fallen asleep: first, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and
martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition; next, we make mention also of the
holy fathers and bishops who have already fallen asleep, and, to put it simply, of all among us who have already fallen
asleep, for we believe that it will be of very great benefit to the souls of those for whom the petition is carried up, while
this holy and most solemn sacrifice is laid outquot; (Catechetical Lectures 23:5:9 [A.D. 350]).Read More
John Chrysostom, St [347-407 AD] Homily 41 on First Corinthians
quot;Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice [Job 1:5], why would we doubt
that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer
our prayers for themquot; (Homilies on First Corinthians 41:5 [A.D. 392]).Read More
John Chrysostom, St [347-407 AD] Homily 3 on Philippians
quot;Weep for those who die in their wealth and who with all their wealth prepared no consolation for their own souls, who had
the power to wash away their sins and did not will to do it. Let us weep for them, let us assist them to the extent of our
ability, let us think of some assistance for them, small as it may be, yet let us somehow assist them. But how, and in what
way? By praying for them and by entreating others to pray for them, by constantly giving alms to the poor on their behalf.
Not in vain was it decreed by the apostles that in the awesome mysteries remembrance should be made of the departed.
They knew that here there was much gain for them, much benefit. When the entire people stands with hands uplifted, a
priestly assembly, and that awesome sacrificial Victim is laid out, how, when we are calling upon God, should we not
succeed in their defense? But this is done for those who have departed in the faith, while even the catechumens are not
reckoned as worthy of this consolation, but are deprived of every means of assistance except one. And what is that? We
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may give alms to the poor on their behalfquot; (Homilies on Philippians 3:9–10 [A.D. 402]).Read More
Augustine of Hippo, St [354-430 AD] The City of God (Book XXI)
quot;Temporal punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by some after death, by some both here and hereafter, but
all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But not all who suffer temporal punishments after death will come to
eternal punishments, which are to follow after that judgmentquot; (The City of God 21:13 [A.D. 419]).Read More
Augustine of Hippo, St [354-430 AD] The City of God (Book XXII)
quot;But by the prayers of the holy Church, and by the salvific sacrifice, and by the alms which are given for their spirits, there
is no doubt that the dead are aided, that the Lord might deal more mercifully with them than their sins would deserve. The
whole Church observes this practice which was handed down by the Fathers: that it prays for those who have died in the
communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, when they are commemorated in their own place in the sacrifice itself; and
the sacrifice is offered also in memory of them, on their behalf. If, then, works of mercy are celebrated for the sake of
those who are being remembered, who would hesitate to recommend them, on whose behalf prayers to God are not
offered in vain? It is not at all to be doubted that such prayers are of profit to the dead; but for such of them as lived
before their death in a way that makes it possible for these things to be useful to them after deathquot; (ibid., 172:2).Read
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Augustine of Hippo, St [354-430 AD] Tractate 6 (John 1:32-33)
quot;That there should be some fire even after this life is not incredible, and it can be inquired into and either be discovered or
left hidden whether some of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and some more quickly in the greater or lesser
degree in which they loved the good things that perish, through a certain purgatorial firequot; (Handbook on Faith, Hope, and
Charity 18:69 [A.D. 421]).Read More
Augustine of Hippo, St [354-430 AD] Tractate 49 (John 11:1-54)
quot;The time which interposes between the death of a man and the final resurrection holds souls in hidden retreats,
accordingly as each is deserving of rest or of hardship, in view of what it merited when it was living in the flesh. Nor can it
be denied that the souls of the dead find relief through the piety of their friends and relatives who are still alive, when the
Sacrifice of the Mediator [Mass] is offered for them, or when alms are given in the Church. But these things are of profit to
those who, when they were alive, merited that they might afterward be able to be helped by these things. There is a
certain manner of living, neither so good that there is no need of these helps after death, nor yet so wicked that these
helps are of no avail after deathquot; (ibid., 29:109).Read More
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